Odor learning and its experience-dependent modulation in the South American native bumblebee Bombus atratus (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Learning about olfactory stimuli is essential in bumblebees' life since it is involved in orientation, recognition of nest sites, foraging efficiency and food yield for the colony as a whole. To evaluate associative learning abilities in bees under controlled environmental conditions, the probo...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado: 2018
Materias:
Associative learning
Bombus atratus
Bumblebee
Latent inhibition
Odor pre-exposure
Acceso en línea:https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_16641078_v9_nAPR_p_Palottini
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_16641078_v9_nAPR_p_Palottini
Aporte de:
Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA) de Universidad de Buenos Aires
id paper:paper_16641078_v9_nAPR_p_Palottini
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spelling paper:paper_16641078_v9_nAPR_p_Palottini2023-06-08T16:25:59Z Odor learning and its experience-dependent modulation in the South American native bumblebee Bombus atratus (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Associative learning Bombus atratus Bumblebee Latent inhibition Odor pre-exposure Learning about olfactory stimuli is essential in bumblebees' life since it is involved in orientation, recognition of nest sites, foraging efficiency and food yield for the colony as a whole. To evaluate associative learning abilities in bees under controlled environmental conditions, the proboscis extension response (PER) assay is a well-established method used in honey bees, stingless bees and successfully adapted to bumblebees of the genus Bombus. However, studies on the learning capacity of Bombus atratus (Hymenoptera: Apidae), one of the most abundant native species in South America, are non-existent. In this study, we examined the cognitive abilities of worker bees of this species, carrying out an olfactory PER conditioning experiment. Bumblebees were able to learn a pure odor when it was presented in paired association with sugared reward, but not when odor and reward were presented in an unpaired manner. Furthermore, if the bees were preexposed to the conditioned odor, the results differed depending on the presence of the scent either as a volatile in the rearing environment or diluted in the food. A decrement in learning performance results from the non-reinforced pre-exposure to the to-be-conditioned odor, showing a latent inhibition phenomenon. However, if the conditioned odor has been previously offered diluted in sugared reward, the food odor acts as a stimulus that improves the learning performance during PER conditioning. The native bumblebee B. atratus is thus a new hymenopteran species capable of being trained under controlled experimental conditions. Since it is an insect increasingly reared for pollination service, this knowledge could be useful in its management in crops. © 2018 Palottini, Estravis Barcala and Farina. 2018 https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_16641078_v9_nAPR_p_Palottini http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_16641078_v9_nAPR_p_Palottini
institution Universidad de Buenos Aires
institution_str I-28
repository_str R-134
collection Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA)
topic Associative learning
Bombus atratus
Bumblebee
Latent inhibition
Odor pre-exposure
spellingShingle Associative learning
Bombus atratus
Bumblebee
Latent inhibition
Odor pre-exposure
Odor learning and its experience-dependent modulation in the South American native bumblebee Bombus atratus (Hymenoptera: Apidae)
topic_facet Associative learning
Bombus atratus
Bumblebee
Latent inhibition
Odor pre-exposure
description Learning about olfactory stimuli is essential in bumblebees' life since it is involved in orientation, recognition of nest sites, foraging efficiency and food yield for the colony as a whole. To evaluate associative learning abilities in bees under controlled environmental conditions, the proboscis extension response (PER) assay is a well-established method used in honey bees, stingless bees and successfully adapted to bumblebees of the genus Bombus. However, studies on the learning capacity of Bombus atratus (Hymenoptera: Apidae), one of the most abundant native species in South America, are non-existent. In this study, we examined the cognitive abilities of worker bees of this species, carrying out an olfactory PER conditioning experiment. Bumblebees were able to learn a pure odor when it was presented in paired association with sugared reward, but not when odor and reward were presented in an unpaired manner. Furthermore, if the bees were preexposed to the conditioned odor, the results differed depending on the presence of the scent either as a volatile in the rearing environment or diluted in the food. A decrement in learning performance results from the non-reinforced pre-exposure to the to-be-conditioned odor, showing a latent inhibition phenomenon. However, if the conditioned odor has been previously offered diluted in sugared reward, the food odor acts as a stimulus that improves the learning performance during PER conditioning. The native bumblebee B. atratus is thus a new hymenopteran species capable of being trained under controlled experimental conditions. Since it is an insect increasingly reared for pollination service, this knowledge could be useful in its management in crops. © 2018 Palottini, Estravis Barcala and Farina.
title Odor learning and its experience-dependent modulation in the South American native bumblebee Bombus atratus (Hymenoptera: Apidae)
title_short Odor learning and its experience-dependent modulation in the South American native bumblebee Bombus atratus (Hymenoptera: Apidae)
title_full Odor learning and its experience-dependent modulation in the South American native bumblebee Bombus atratus (Hymenoptera: Apidae)
title_fullStr Odor learning and its experience-dependent modulation in the South American native bumblebee Bombus atratus (Hymenoptera: Apidae)
title_full_unstemmed Odor learning and its experience-dependent modulation in the South American native bumblebee Bombus atratus (Hymenoptera: Apidae)
title_sort odor learning and its experience-dependent modulation in the south american native bumblebee bombus atratus (hymenoptera: apidae)
publishDate 2018
url https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_16641078_v9_nAPR_p_Palottini
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_16641078_v9_nAPR_p_Palottini
_version_ 1768545620327399424

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